Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen Wednesday make-up)

Blue Jasmine was the first Woody Allen movie I have ever seen in theaters.  I know it makes no sense but I have this irrational fear of going to the movies alone.  The reason it makes no sense is I used to work at one and hundreds of people would go in by themselves daily and I never gave it a second thought. When faced with the idea of doing this myself, however, I felt like a total loser.  But I needed to see this movie and I needed to see it in theaters.  So I gathered up the courage, stuck some cheap candy in my bag, and headed to the theater.  I was early and the theater was quite empty, mind you I saw it it's third week in theaters, so I sent a text to my dad asking what loser status I was at going to a Woody Allen movie by myself.  He quickly answered I was, in fact, the biggest loser, thank you dad.  Yet I was still determined to see this movie, dammit.  Slowly the theater filled, as only a Woody Allen movie could, with couples and friends of multiple ages, all brought together for the same work of art.  Even then, three weeks after it's release, on a holiday weekend (it was Yom Kippur and although I should have been hidden away, cut off from society somewhere, I was there) the theater became packed.  Looking around I was probably the only one alone, and the youngest, but I was still among my people, the fans of the greatest director of all time.

I watched the movies in awe, the rest of the world didn't exist, I wouldn't allow it to.  I was so captivated by perhaps one of the best acting performances I'd ever seen and a plot that was interestingly simplistic and beautifully masterful all that the same time.  As if I could love Cate Blanchett any more after her work in Lord of the Rings, her performance in this movie had me unable to breathe it was so believable and touching.  I have been hearing reviews about Blue Jasmine since it came out and the one repetitive claim is that the acting in this movie was phenomenal.  I could not agree with anything else more.  Not only by Blanchett, who portrays Jasmine, but by the entire cast!  The emotionally bondage I felt to these characters was unmeasurable to anything I'd ever watched before.  Aided by Sally Hawkins, Ginger (Jasmine's sister), the female duo creates a wonderful sisterly bond and friendship.  Both teaching and learning from the other, Ginger mostly learning to not be her sister and instead be herself.  The male entourage: Alec Baldwin, Andrew Dice Clay, Bobby Cannavalle, Peter Sarsgaard, and Louis C. K. also gave memorable performances, and I will admit that when I saw the cast list I was a bit concerned, I was proven wrong on so many levels.  (Also I didn't know it was possible for me to hate a character played by Louis C. K.)  The acting and connections that the acting created made the movie, as it is a character driven movie rather than plot.

The way the movie flowed was very characteristic of Woody Allen, told through the memory sequences of Jasmine to her marriage with Hal, Baldwin.  It was a failed marriage of course filled with cheating and lying, another signature of most Allen films.  The story follows Jasmine after a failed marriage with the rich and successful Hal, after which she moves to California to be with her sister after she's supposedly lost everything.  We learn a lot about Jasmine through her interactions with a fellow passenger on the plane who leaves and tells her husband she has no idea who Jasmine is or why she was talking to her, supposedly she'd started by talking to herself (foreshadowing of Jasmine's ill mental state).  We learn that Ginger is divorced and her ex, Augie, Clay, that Jasmine is a bit "stuck up".  We follow the story and learn about Hal's unfaithfulness and his scamming ways which caused Jasmine to become broke. Other information is revealed to the viewer in further flashbacks and Jasmine's interactions with her estranged son.

Jasmine is a pretentious, snobby, and narcissistic woman who, despite her bankruptcy and dependency on her sister, still believes she is better than everyone.  She tries to tell Ginger how to run her life and in the process drives her away.  She is incapable to be honest with herself and in turn others which make it impossible for her to make new relationships and destroys them if she does.  She goes from having everything to having nothing, we see the cause and effect of her actions and the downfall of a powerful woman into, almost, insanity.  Never has a character been so well rounded and beautifully captured withing 90 minutes as Jasmine, not to mention had a beautifully depressing story and amazing supporting cast.

I was stuck in my seat for a good five minutes as the credits rolled.  Not quite sure what to do with myself from there.  I wanted more of the story yet I was content where it let off.  I wanted to see more of the characters but I had a good idea where they were going.  I really had no unanswered questions that should be answered.  Truth be told I just wanted more of Woody Allen's work.  I am never let down, and Blue Jasmine certainly lived up to expectations.

Blue Jasmine is completely beautiful and I can't wait to see what comes next year.

Cate Blanchett (Jasmine) and Sally Hawkins (Ginger)